


You Think We're Done Here?

by words_reign_here



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, FBI Agent Cas, M/M, Teacher Dean, former military man Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 20:46:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2283978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Winchester is a high school English teacher and he loves his job. He loves his co-workers. His little brother has a great job and all in all, after a childhood filled with a drunken, violent man, things are going a lot better. But it takes one day, three cups of spilled coffee, an angry FBI agent and a man seeking revenge on Sam Winchester to change all of that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Dean Winchester was late. In Dean Winchester’s opinion, Dean Winchester was _always_ late. In Sam Winchester’s opinion, his brother was a maniac who was always fifteen minutes early to everything. Dean’s weird and vague relationship with time always left him rushing about in the morning despite the fact that he got as much set up in the night previous. So when he all but shoved Sam in the Impala to rush to his favorite downtown bakery for coffee and a sweet roll (he owed a certain Mr. Gabriel Novak a favor for taking his fourth period kids while Dean was at the dentist), Sam only mumbled an insult, tucked his briefcase between his legs and yawned.

And although Dean felt he was running late, he did not try to rush through traffic. He was careful with his car, the only long standing romance in his life, and used his blinker, muttering vague curses about people with throwaway plastic cars.

“The usual?” He asked Sam as he pulled into Divine Delights.

“Yeah.” Sam said through a yawn.

Dean shut the door and walked through the front. Krissy was up at the front counter, doing a pretty good imitation of Sam’s yawn.

“Hey, Mr. Winchester.” She said, smiling.

“Hey, Krissy. I’ll just have a usual today and whatever Mr. Novak gets.”

She smiled and punched in his order. “He usually gets whatever has the most frosting.”

“Sounds about right. How’s college treating you?” He asked, pulling out his wallet and placing a twenty on the counter between them. He tensed himself for a fight, but hoped that Krissy would take the money without question.

“Dad! Mr. Winchester is trying to pay again!” Krissy called to the back counter. Krissy’s father’s head popped up out of nowhere, eyebrows furrowed. He raised a spatula threateningly at Dean who guiltily shoved the twenty back in his wallet.

“College is not bad. Bigger. Friends are finding new friends. It’s harder. There is a lot of reading in my Western Civ class and English class. I don’t know, Mr. Winchester. Sometimes I barely make it.” She added the last sentence in a low murmur, glancing over her shoulder to see if her father had retreated behind the counter. He had.

“You are always free to come by the house. You know when my study nights are.” Dean murmured back, keeping Krissy’s secret low and between them.

“I just thought that since I was in college-”

“Krissy, I’m always here for you.” Dean said. “You need help, that’s what I do.”

Her eyes shone briefly for a moment before she looked down at the register. Adam swept by with three coffees each labeled neatly with a _D, S,_ and _G_. She placed them in a cardboard holder and looked up. “I didn’t think it would be easier but I thought that I had this thing figured out.”

“We’ll get there.” Dean reassured her. She smiled and stepped back to get Sam’s burrito, Dean’s muffin and whatever frosted concoction Gabriel got.

Krissy had entered Dean’s high school freshmen class loud and rowdy. She was the class clown and often got by on a smirk and some snark. But Dean often saw her struggle and had seen the same struggle in Sam years earlier. Turns out Krissy was dyslexic and had long ago given up on her dream of being a vet and decided that she would work at the bakery for the rest of her life where she had memorized the buttons and charmed customers on a daily basis. Her father paid her a fair wage but had wanted Krissy to achieve her long-standing dream of being a vet. He had a tidy sum ready for her, just waiting for the local college to accept her but she didn’t think she could do it. But Dean was a fair expert on the learning disorder. Sam had been diagnosed years earlier and Dean had been the one to learn how to help him through it. He applied that same knowledge to Krissy’s problem and within weeks she was reading better than she had before. He started a study group in Sam’s office that met every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He helped as many students as he possibly could, papering Sam’s home office with their first A+’s, their graduation photos and sometimes copies of their college acceptance letters.

Dean lived for those kids.

“I’ll come by on Wednesday, I think.” Krissy said softly.

“We’ll be there.” Dean promised. He tucked his bag of breakfast goodies under his arm, picked up his coffee and turned.

And smashed right into a guy who wasn’t watching where he was going because he had his face in his phone.

The coffee felt right in between the two of them, splashing both of their shoes.

“Oh, for the love of-” The man started.

“Jesus Christ.” Dean gritted out. His pants were ok, but his shoes were soaked in an Americano blend and the coffee was everywhere.

“Hey, how about you look where you are going next time?” The man growled in Dean’s direction, blue eyes angry and slitted.

“Me? I was turning around when you decided that you were more important than anyone else and slammed right into me.” Dean snapped right back.  

“Well excuse me for ruining your thirty dollar shoes Mr. High and Mighty-”

“Sir, that’s _Mr_. Winchester to you and if you do not watch your tone, federal agent or not, I will ask you to leave the premises.” Adam said smoothly, sweeping in with a mop and bucket. Also a previous student, Adam often dropped by the Winchester study groups for help with his math classes, which Mr. Lafitte was present for. The man glared at Adam until Dean stepped in between the two of them.

“If there is a problem, _Agent_ , I suggest you take it up with me and not with him.” Dean added, looking the man up and down. Being raised by an ex Marine and serving his own country for nearly eight years had it’s useful moments.  

“If there is a problem, Mr. _Winchester_ , I suggest you take a step back.” The man said, a barely concealed snarl there.

Dean smiled. “There is no problem, _Agent_.”

“Sure doesn’t look that way to me.” A man drawled from the door. “My partner here and I are used to solving problems though. We are a couple of problem solvers.”

Adam looked up at Dean, back at Krissy, who was waving him back behind the counter. Dean took a step back and eyed both of the men. Logically, he knew that he was in a pissing contest with two guys who enforced the law. Logically he knew he should just turn around, grab the coffee that Krissy had waiting for him and storm out.

Let it be said that logic and Dean Winchester were not always on the same side.

Dean’s lip curled and suddenly there was another person at his side. “Agent Henrickson. Couple of problem solvers?” Sam asked with a snort. “So good to see you again. I hear that you almost captured another bad guy. Again.” Sam smirked. “Almost.”

There was a flash of temper on the newcomer’s face as he stared up at Sam. “Ah.” He said looking at Dean and back at Sam. “Mr. Winchester the lawyer and Mr. Winchester the saintly teacher. Just my luck.”

Adam stepped in between the two opposing groups and shoved cups of coffee at the two men. “No charge. Just leave.”

The first man turned to Adam, opening his mouth, before Adam shook his head. “You have been in here everyday for a two weeks with attitude, mister. I don’t want an apology. The only people that deserve one are Mr. Winchester and Krissy, who has had to put up with your shit attitude every day you have been in.”

The man’s blue eyes narrowed once more at Adam who did not back down. Dean knew that he was uncharacteristically outspoken, and sometimes it was a detriment, but Dean was proud of the young man’s words.

“He just needs to leave.” Krissy said quietly. “And he needs to find a new place to get coffee.”

Henrickson left in a huff but the first man stared at Krissy for a moment before he spoke in a grave tone. “I apologize for my rude behavior. It seems as though I am letting my professional life negatively affect my people skills. I do, however, ask that if I might have one more chance, I can prove to be downright delightful.” Sam raised a hand to his mouth, trying to hide the laughter that was threatening to spill out his lips. “I assure you, Miss, you have the best coffee in town and it would be a waste of my efforts to try every single coffee shop and bakery in the tri-city area to lose privileges to the one place that has the best Americano.”

Krissy chewed on her lower lip and glanced over at Sam. “Sam?” She asked.

“It’s up to you, Krissy.” Sam said.

“Mr. Winchester?” She asked.

Dean shrugged. “If you want.”

“One more chance.” Krissy held up one finger and narrowed her eyes. She dared the federal agent to defy her. “But if I have to put up with attitude or watch you insult and threaten our favorite two customers again, I will file a formal complaint with whoever you work with.” Krissy said. She turned away and stalked the back. The man turned his blue eyes to the Winchesters once more.

“My apologies.” He said stiffly and turned on his heel and left.

“Dick.” Dean grumbled. He and Sam climbed into the Impala and left, but not without watching the other two drive off in a white SUV.

 

~~~

 

What turned out to a life-changing day for Dean started out fairly normal. He got in on time, waved Sam off as he headed out of the parking lot in the Impala, shouldered his beaten leather bag and headed in to find Gabe. Ms. Moore, the art teacher, was pulling up a seat next to the man himself while he plated a couple of pancakes for her. He was also there with Ms. Harvelle, the shop teacher and Ms. Bradbury, the computer science teacher. They were sharing an omelette that Gabe had no doubt prepared himself. Dean presented his reward to him with a flourish.

“You are a man of your word.” Gabe said, opening the glossy white box with a stifled gasp. “Was this from Krissy? She is a _goddess_. I am going to get this recipe from her one day.”

Dean pulled up a chair next to Jo who speared a piece of omelette and held it out for Dean. He opened his mouth obediently and shook his head as he swallowed. “Gabe, I don’t know why you teach here. You could open your own place.”

Charlie and Jo nodded. Jess cut a piece of her pancake for Dean and held it out for him on her fork. He opened his mouth and she shoved the whole thing in his mouth and he moaned. Gabe had outdone himself again “Better not let Sam see that.” Jo said as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of Jess feeding Dean while he stared at her with doe eyes. She quickly sent a message off to Sam who immediately sent a _Stop that_ to Dean and Jess. Jess laughed.  

“I like the atmosphere better here.” Gabe answered Dean’s question and shoved half the sweet roll in his mouth. “And no one would bring me things like this for thanks.”

Dean raised his coffee in Gabe’s direction. “I had to fight off to federal agents for that thing. Savor it. Hell, taste the damn thing before you inhale it.”

“Federal agents?” Gabe asked around the roll in his mouth.

“Yeah. One of ‘em Sammy knew. Some Henrickson dude. I didn’t get the other guy’s name but he was kind of pissed when I almost got him kicked out of Krissy’s place.”

Gabe managed to swallow the roll in his mouth before he erupted into a fit of laughter. Jess and Charlie watched him, eyebrows raised in tandem.

“Are you kidding me?” He managed to ask. Dean shook his head and exchanged a look with Charlie.

“The other agent is Gabe’s brother. Castiel Novak.” Jo provided. Gabe was bent over his desk while Jo continued. “Really stuffy, great big blue eyes, sex hair?”

“That’s the one. Kind of a dick.” Dean agreed.

“Oh, that’s my sweet baby brother.” Gabe said, half laying on his desk, panting for breath. “He’s been going on and on about this bakery. Oh goodness. I have to call him and give him a hard time for almost arresting the only hot teacher we have here.”

“Excuse me?” Jo, Jess and Charlie said, eyeing Gabe.

“The only hot male teacher.”

“I’m right next door. I can hear everything!” Mr. Lafitte’s voice came from the hallway.

“Oh forget it.” Gabe said. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Hey, Cassie. How’s the day going?... Yeah, I remember you mentioning it… What was he like?... A giant oaf?... Geez Cas. Were they the Italian ones Luke got for you?... Well it could be worse. So was he cute?... Yes you did. Come on Cas. Observant federal agent like yourself won’t admit if the guy who spilled coffee on you was hot?... No! No I don’t! He’s not! He’s not a friend… A co-worker. Yes, ok you caught me. Hey the bell is about to ring I’ll-talk-to-you-later-I-love-you-baby-bro-bye.” Gabe finished in a rush and hung up his phone. He grinned at Dean. “He thinks you’re hot.”

“Hey look guys.” Checking his imaginary watch, Dean stood and grabbed his bag. “It’s my cue to leave.” Dean said.

“Think about it, Dean!” Gabe called after him.

Dean laughed and shook his head, returning to his class. He nodded at some of the students, waved at the teachers and dropped his coffee off in his office, adjacent to his classroom. Some students milled around in his class, a few were taking naps on their desk and one was up drawing an intricate border around his weekly plans. They muttered a greeting when they saw him, a few looked up from their books and they all began to put away their phones. Morning announcements were done gruffly and quickly by Principal Singer and before he signed off he wished everyone a good day and to do their best. The thing was, he sounded like he meant it just like every other morning.

“Morning, people.” Dean said and stepped up to the board. “How did everyone like the story?”

“It was weird.” One of his students said.

“I didn’t like it.”

“No one liked it.”

“Who wakes up and is a bug one day?”

Dean grinned.

So it began.

 

~~~

 

“Apparently, the saintly teacher works with my brother.” Agent Novak said with some disgust and stuffed his phone inside his jacket.

“Is that so?” Victor asked, turning into the ugly squat building that they worked out of. “Did you get his number?”

“The number of a man who is a rude, obstinate, klutz who cannot admit a single mistake and sics his teenage protegees after me? No, Victor, it somehow passed me by.”

Victor snorted. “Damn good coffee though.”

Castiel murmured his agreement, grabbed his briefcase and headed inside. They headed towards their joint office, Castiel’s shoes sticking to the tile beneath them every step of the way. “Arrogant, self absorbed man.” He muttered as he slid behind his desk and logged into his computer.

“I might be out of line-”

“When aren’t you out of line?” Cas asked.

“But do you think you are making a mountain out of a molehill with the whole coffee incident? That you might be pissed about the whole Ring of Devils case and the fact that Sam Winchester, of all people, happened to be the brother of the man who spilled coffee all over the fine Italian shoes your brother brought back from Europe?”

“We gave him everything we had, Victor.” Castiel glared at him.

“And if it hadn’t been for a certain Lilith accusing you of conduct unbecoming of a federal agent, they would all be locked away. Yes, I know. I was there for the whole thing and the accusation and the fact that we couldn’t disprove her word. I know, Cas. But we’ll get them. This isn’t Sam’s fault and it isn’t your fault. As it is, we have them covered 24/7. We’ll do what we can. We’ll do what we have to.”

Cas rubbed his face. The faith his partner had in him was reassuring but he still cursed the day he was left alone with that wretched woman. His phone rang and he glared at him as though it personally insulted him, like everything else in this world. He viciously punched intercom button.

“Novak.”

“Novak, get your ass down to Rohnert Park. They need you.” Ellen Harvelle barked.

“What is it?” He asked, standing and pulling his jacket off the back of his chair.

“They found Lilith. Well, what’s left of her, anyway. Kid, I hope you have an airtight alibi for the past 24 hours.”

Cas raised his eyes to Victor who was already walking to the door. At Ellen’s words, he paused and turned.

“Yes, ma’am.” He said. She hung up without another word.

“I bet you are pretty happy for that 24 hour security doorman now, aren’t you?” Victor asked.

“Let’s go.” Castiel growled.

 

~~~

 

Dean’s day was pretty standard. First, second, third period, then his prep followed by lunch and then fifth period, his senior advanced placement class. They were his favorite and they knew it. They went to great lengths to keep their place in his heart. Mondays were student taught and student led, which meant that Dean got to kick back in the last row of the desks and watch as one of his students trooped to the front with whatever lesson had been previously assigned and taught. He graded on lesson plans, understanding of the lesson, discussion and activity.

The students, surprisingly, loved this day of the week. The interaction between each other in an academic setting brought out parts of his students he couldn’t quite reach. Dean loved it because he got to be a student for a short period of time. Today, Kevin Tran was going over the Crucible with the class. He started out with rollcall. It was a relatively small class, highly anticipated, highly in demand but near impossible to get into. Each student, upon graduation, got one of Dean’s glowing letters of recommendation to whatever career or college path they chose. There were numerous field trips, more papers than any other class, double the reading and more discussion than that of his counterparts classes. This class allowed the student volunteer opportunities, ability to network and more activities to add to a college admissions letter.

Kevin started the class with a surprisingly well edited video that hit all the highlights of the movie and left off with the question of the racial and sexual discrimination presented throughout the movie and if those same issues were still as prevalent and if so, in what form. The kids loved the presentations because they could hold themselves up to a higher standard and along with that, their peers as well.

Kevin clicked over to the first slide in his presentation when the lights went out and the small light behind Dean’s desk lit up a dangerous red. It was the one color that he had hoped he would never see.

Green meant fire.

Orange meant bomb threat.

Purple meant missing student.

Red meant an active shooter on campus.

He stood and the other kids watched him and their eyes slid to the light. They weren’t panicking, not yet. It could still be a drill. Dean went to the door and with shaking hands pulled it open bare inches to stick head head out. He slammed it shut as soon as he heard the shots ring out. Dean pointed to the corner of the room where his desk was.

“Flip it over. Get the other desks behind there and for the love of god, get down.” He whispered. Kevin was already gripping one side of the desk and another student, Tony, helped him lay it down, scattering papers everywhere. The ten other students gathered behind it, pulling desks to their makeshift fort and crouched behind it. Their eyes watched their teacher and Dean stood next to the door and he listened to Charlie’s class next door. Benny’s class on the other side of him had gone eerily silent as well.

He reached for his phone, nearly dropping it in the process. He saw that three of his students were already on the phone with 911. He dialed the most familiar number he knew.

“Dean, not a good time-” Sam started.

“Sammy, there’s a shooter on campus.” Dean whispered.

Silence. There was a clatter and murmur in the background like Sam had stood up quickly and knocked over a chair. “Are you ok? Are the kids ok? Dean-”

“We’re ok. We’re fine. Just-” Dean huffed out a laugh that was almost a sob. “Just be ok. Ok? Just be ok.”

“I’m fine-” Sam started and then the door next to Dean opened. A man he didn’t know stepped in the room, dressed in black from head to toe. Dean let his instincts take over and when he saw the guy’s gun point at the desks crowded into one corner, he swung in, his back to the guy’s chest, pointed the gun skyward and squeezed off all the shots in the gun. He heard the kids scream, he heard Kevin yell for everyone to stay down and Dean slammed his elbow into the man’s face, dropping him to the ground. He scrambled for a stapler that had fallen from his desk to the ground and, using it as a fist pack, began to beat the man into submission. He didn’t make a sound and neither did Dean. Finally, he stopped struggling underneath Dean and Dean fell back against his legs.

The cold press of the gun was the first thing Dean felt after he heard the steps.

“Mr. Winchester.” He heard. “My name is Brady. I believe your brother might have mentioned me?”

The Devils Ring. The threats. The late night phone calls. The sheer terror in his baby brother’s voice when Dean couldn’t be found right away.

“Yeah,” Dean said. He cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, he mentioned something about you overcompensating for lacking in other areas.”

Dean felt the gun slam into the back of his head and prayed that his students would get out alive.

 

~~~

 

  Cas and Victor stood over what was left of Lilith’s body. Victor turned away in disgust.

“What the fuck did that?” He asked.

“Dogs?” Castiel guessed, stepping back. “Forks? Ice pick? I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ellen joined them and glanced down at Lilith. “Tell me where you were last night, Novak.” She said.

“Dinner with the brothers until ten. Credit card receipt in the glove box.” He nodded at his vehicle. “Doorman checked me in at ten seventeen.He’ll be back on shift tonight at nine tonight. Didn’t leave my apartment until seven fifteen this morning. Picked up Victor at seven thirty five. The cameras in the elevator and hallway will corroborate what I’ve said.”

Ellen nodded, lips pressed together. “Good.”

She opened her mouth to say something but all three agents phones began to ring at the same time and a police car with flashing lights and sirens headed towards them. Everyone looked startled at the sudden noise; they were after all, in the middle of the forest in the middle of nowhere. They were already at the center of all the activity.

“What in the blazing hell-” Ellen started.

“Agent Novak.” Castiel answered his phone.

“Cas-” Gabriel sounded out of breath. “Cas, the school. There is a shooter on campus-”

The last thing Castiel heard from his brother before the screaming started over the phone was, “Please.”

Victor was already to the car. Ellen was climbing into the passenger side. Jo Harvelle taught there. Her stepfather and Ellen’s husband, Bobby Singer was the principle there. Gabriel Novak taught there. And the district attorney’s brother taught there. The facts ran through Castiel’s head as quickly as they did Victor’s.

“He is either very stupid or very smart.” Victor remarked before spinning out of the dirt lot they were parked in and slamming on the gas. They were greeted by SWAT and three quarters of the town’s police force. Barricades were up, bomb squad was on their way and they had central command center set up. Castiel noted with some surprised that the district attorney was already there too.

“Counselor, there is nothing you can do here.” Castiel said as Sam Winchester caught up with him.

Sam just shook his head. “I’m not leaving, Novak. You’ll have to drag me out of here.”

Ellen sidled up and pressed a hand to Sam’s back. “Honey-”

“Ellen, they are all in there. Benny, Jo, Bobby, Jess, Charlie, Dean-” The last name almost choked him and Cas was startled at how young he looked. He remembered the stories of how he entered college a year ahead of everyone else and had taken classes night and day for five years solid, without break, to graduate early to take the burden off his brother. Cas sighed. The bond there was unbreakable and a distraction for the agents right now.

“Baby, I know. But you have to let us handle it.” Ellen consoled. Castiel darted his eyes between the two; there was a relationship there that Castiel was not aware of. “Go back to the car, at least.”

They held each other’s eyes for a moment before Sam shuffled off. Ellen watched him, pain evident on her own face. “Sam?” She called.

He turned to her.

“You sure he’s in there?” She asked.

“Yeah, of course. He called and he said-” Sam closed his mouth and looked over at Cas. “Nothing important. But he’s in there all right.”

Ellen nodded. “Good.” She muttered. She turned and headed for the large truck that was their central command.

“How is that good?” Castiel asked. Victor jogged over to them.

“Dean Winchester-”

“Ah, the saintly teacher.” Victor said with a smirk.

“Well, aside from that,” Ellen snapped, “Dean Winchester spent eight years in special forces. Sent Sam to school and then saved the GI bill for himself. Got out, got his teaching degree, never looked back.”

“Special-” Cas started. The man that morning who had been charming the young people at the bakery and who had snarled at Castiel did not fit the type. The guy that Sam had spoken about at length, filling his house up with his student’s achievements as if they were his own children, tutoring after a nine or ten hour day, spending days writing letters of recommendation-

“Special Forces?” Cas finally finished.

“He doesn’t look it, I’ll give you that. But between his daddy and the Marines, he is a tough cookie. I’m glad he’s in there, if anyone.” Ellen finished.

“Ellen these two-” Victor said, gesturing to Sam who was still at the edge of the barricade, “Are they the two that you and Bobby adopted? Jo’s big brothers?”

“The same.” Ellen agreed.

“Jesus.” Castiel said.

Almost Ellen’s entire family was in that building.

 

~~~

 

Dean woke up slowly and wondered how much he could possibly have had to drink the night before to have such a pounding headache. Everything came back to him in a flash. He opened his eyes to find Kevin and Stephanie looking down at him.

“Hey, Mr. Winchester.” She said softly. She had been crying.

“Hey, Steph. How’s it going?”

She let out a soft sob and stifled it with her hand. “I’ve been better. I think you’ve taught better lessons.”

“Are you dizzy?” Kevin asked.

“No.” He raised his hands up though. They were tied together with zip ties. He looked at Kevin and Steph. They both raised their hands. It seemed like everyone was tied up.

“Where is he?” Dean asked, struggling to sit up. Kevin and Steph both helped him and he stood. They stood next to him for a moment before he shooed them behind the desks. The man who had entered first that Dean had beaten into a silent submission was missing, but there was a trail of blood that led out the door that showed he did not do so under his own power.

“He said he had some other people to get.” Tony said.

“Shit.” Dean said matter of factly. “Did you see how many others were with him?” He pushed his feet through the papers and supplies scattered around the room but he didn’t see the scissors he normally kept there.

“Two others came in for the one you beat the snot out of. Plus the Brady guy that hit you.” Isla replied. She was shaking and her makeup was streaked. Dean nodded but continued to shuffle through all the things on the floor. “They took everything.” Isla said from her spot on the floor. “My knife, Steph’s nail file, your scissors, everyone’s phone…”

“Well.” Dean said. He glanced out the window and sighed. “Well.” He repeated. “No one has a phone?”

“I do.” Henley said from her near the wall. “It’s in my bra.” She said with a blush.

“Good job.” Dean said. He raised his hands to his mouth and pulled at the zip tie there until the joint was in between his wrists. He pulled and twisted as much as he could, feeling the bruising and swelling start almost immediately.

“Mr. Winchester without something to cut it with-” Brian started but then stopped when Dean brought the ties down quickly, across his hips, his elbows on either side of him, snapping the plastic neatly in half. Henley already had her phone in hand.

“Oh, you gotta teach me that.” Brian finished.

“Another time, Bri.” Dean said, punching Sam’s number into the bright pink Hello Kitty phone.

“Hello?” Sam answered before the first ring was finished.

“I hope your day is so much better than mine.” Dean said. He gently probed the bruise on the back of his head.

“What happened! Where are you! Ellen!” Sam said, words tumbling over each other.

“Well, Sam. I’m not sure what happened exactly. One minutes, we’re talking about the Crucible, the next minute I’m beating this guy bloody who had the nerve to come into _my_ class with a gun. Can you believe that shit, Sammy?”

“I can’t believe anyone would be that stupid, son.” Ellen’s voice came over the phone.  Sam had him on speaker.

“ _My_ class.” Dean muttered, flexing his wrists. “He said his name was Brady. Hey Ellen.”

“Tyson Brady. Pharmaceutical guy.” Sam said helpfully.

“Is that what the cool kids call it nowadays?” Dean asked.  

“Hi, baby.” Ellen replied. “How you holding up?”

“Me?” Dean snorted. “I’m fine. But I have twelve other people in here that just are not acclimated to this sort of excitement. I would like to get them out of here as soon as possible, if we could.”

“Mr. Winchester, this is Agent Novak-” A familiar growl came over the phone.

“The guy you almost fought in the bakery this morning.” Sam added.

“Ah, right. Of course. It’s that sort of day.” Dean admitted.

“Do you know how many people are holding the school hostage?”

“Well, after Brady knocked me out, two others came in to drag the guy out that I might or might not have beaten to death. So I would say at least three fully functional armed people.”

“I’m sorry, did you say you were knocked out?” Another voice said, and Dean was only left to assume it was Henrickson.

“I’m sorry, did you say you might have killed someone?” Novak asked.

“Not the first time.” Dean said, ruefully answering both questions simultaneously. “But it is highly doubtful that there are only four guys that took the school, man. Too many exits. Too many people to contain. No way. If you haven’t seen anyone escape, they are probably closer to twenty in number.” There was silence on the phone. “Hello?” Dean asked.

“I hate that you are in there, man, but if it had to be anyone, I’m glad it’s you.” Sam admitted.

“ _My_ class. _My_ kids. _My_ school.” Dean muttered again. He looked over at the kids who were all speaking quietly amongst themselves but watched him carefully. It tore at him, quietly, that they were all relying on him more than ever now. “Listen guys, seriously. What are we looking at here?”

“Retaliation, I think.” Sam said. “They have all of Ellen’s family in there. She was in charge of the Devils Ring case. They have you, my one and only living relative. They have Jess. They have Jo. Bobby. And they have the kids. If they wanted to make the agents here look bad, that would probably be the only way to do it. They have Novak’s only living relative. Henrickson doesn’t have any living relatives.”

“Can you get them out, Dean?” Novak answered suddenly.

“My class? Yeah. Probably. But what about Bobby and Jo? And Gabe, Novak? Hell, even if you guys don’t have any family in here, what about the rest of the damn school?” Dean asked softly.

Novak exchanged a look with everyone present. “SWAT is here-”

“What is SWAT going to do? These guys have closed all the blinds, they are keeping out of sight of the windows and they have a couple hundred hostages.” Dean deflected.

“Do you have a plan, Winchester?” Victor asked.

“No, my plan was blown away-” There was a rattling at the door and Dean dropped the phone into the nearest backpack and straightened up. There was no use in trying to hide his hands; the guys were already inside. Brady noticed with some displeasure that he was up and walking around and his hands were unbound. Bobby was pushed in, followed by Jo and Gabe.

“So let me get this straight. The people responsible for almost taking down my business all are related to teachers in some capacity or another, right? And there is only one high school in the area, and you all work here, correct?” Brady asked, raising his eyebrows to Dean.

“I’m going to start calling you Captain Obvious.” Dean said, picking Jo up and gathering her in his arms. She was by no means fragile but she leaned into Dean and he could feel her shaking. He offered Bobby his free hand and he stood as well. Dean all but shoved the old man behind him, ignoring his mumbling. Gabe limped over to the students and spoke quietly to them.

“Ah, with the snark, Mr. Winchester.” Brady said, smirking at him. “Let’s play teacher student, shall we? I’ll be the teacher and tell you a few things. First off, did you know you can buy just about any kind of information off the internet these days? I can figure out that after your mom bit the big one, big daddy Winchester became a professional alcoholic.” Brady raised his eyebrows to confirm the fact but Dean remained stone faced and did not say yes or no. “Principal Singer here, seeing something of himself in elder brother Winchester, adopts both you and your brother. He already has a wife and daughter, but they all welcome you with open arms. It was a rough couple years, but pretty soon, ta da! Insta-family. After high school, you went into the military, had an illustrious career, paid for baby Winchester to go to school, used the GI Bill to pay for your own college and the rest, as we say, is history.” Brady rocked back on his heels and raised the gun to his own chin and scratched there thoughtfully. “Except, for a few details. Your brother became an absolute star in the courtroom. He put away criminal after criminal. He teamed up with Mr. Novak’s brother here, the FBI guy, and together they worked to put me out of business.” Brady glared at Gabe who glared right back. “I don’t see why. Who’s going to miss a little cash from the casinos, a few whores off the street, maybe some extra drugs around these parts? No one!” Brady cried out. “Except for your brothers. Your nosey fucking brothers that couldn’t keep their goddamn mouths shut. I offered them money, women, status, everything I had at my fingertips could have been theirs but they were too goddamn… Noble!”

Brady stalked over to the kids but Dean intercepted him. “Come on. They don’t have anything to do with it. Leave them-”

In the far right corner were the kids, huddled behind desks and Gabe. In front of them was Dean, opposite Brady, and to their left, Jo was with Bobby, trying to hide her shaking hands in her pockets and Bobby pulling her tight against his side.

“Nobility runs in the blood, huh? Ok. All right. I’ll leave the kids. Give me someone else.” He said, directing his last sentence to the guy at the door. The man stuck his head out the door, relayed the instruction and moments later they heard the telltale sounds of someone struggling, sneakers being dragged against linoleum, angry words being hurled. A much larger man, this one resembling an albino gorilla, came in and threw Charlie at Brady’s feet. She landed with a harsh _thud_ at his feet and without another word, Brady raised his boot and stomped on her hand. Charlie screamed, the children cried out and Dean rushed forward, all logic thrown out the window when he saw Charlie; brilliant, sweet Charlie, writhing under Brady’s boot. Dean was brought up short when Brady turned and aimed the gun at his forehead. He leaned in a bare inch and pressed the cool steel to Dean’s forehead.  

“I killed the one person willing to turn us in.” Brady said. “Don’t think that I won’t kill you as well.”

Dean held perfectly still and said, “I know you will. Kill me. But don’t underestimate my little brother, ok? He can and _will_ kill you given the chance.”

“Your brother couldn’t bring us in legally. You think he’d chance his life to do it illegally? He’s got it all. Great family. Great friends. Great girlfriend.” Brady snorted. “Winchesters are all alike. You’ll sacrifice yourselves but not anyone else.” Brady tapped the gun gently against Dean’s forehead. “Choose. One person in this room dies. One person. But not you, Dean. Not yet.” Brady reached down for Dean’s left wrist and set the timer for five minutes. “When that goes off, I’ll come back in to hear what you have decided.”

Brady turned around and as he put his hand on the door, Dean finally spoke. “You better kill me now.”

Brady cocked his head but didn’t turn. “Pardon?”

“You better kill me now. Or I swear, I’ll find a way to kill you. And I won’t stop.” Dean threatened. His hands were shaking and it was only the other people in the room relying on him to keep it together that kept him from charging Brady right then.

He did turn then to face Dean. “I know you won’t. And I know you won’t choose someone for me to kill either. Whatever you do,” Brady cocked his gun and took lazy aim first at Gabe and then Bobby. He turned his gun then on Jo and then Charlie at Dean’s feet. “You will end up here.” He smiled. “I win.” His smile widened. “So, I win.”

“You’re wrong.” Dean gritted out.

“See you in five minutes, Dean.”

Dean looked at his adopted father, his little sister. His best friends and the kids he was sworn to protect. He searched the backpack for the phone he had dropped in there and faced the window again. “Bobby, watch the door.” Bobby nodded and shifted so that he could look out the small window on the door. Gabe pulled some keys out of his pocket and began to saw away at Kevin’s restraints, until they snapped and Kevin began to work on Gabe’s. Pretty soon they were working on everyone else’s.  

“Did you hear that?” Dean asked whoever was on the other line.

“We did.” Novak confirmed.

“What do I do?” He asked, desperate for orders.

There was silence and he could see the four of them trading looks. “Can you disarm him?” Cas asked finally, breaking the heavy weight of the silence.

“Brady? Yeah. It’s the other seven guys outside the door that concern me.” Dean snapped. He took a deep breath. He reminded himself to be calm. “I had this commander. Michael Angelus. Can you find him? Get him here?”

“We will move heaven and earth.” Henrickson promised.

“Keep this phone charged somewhere, Dean.” Novak said.

“Hey, Novak?” Dean asked before they disconnected.

“Yes, Dean?” He answered.

“What’s your first name?”

There was a small hesitation. “Castiel.”

“Can I call you Cas?” Dean asked.

“Of course.”

“Can you take me off speaker for just a minute?” He asked.

“All right.” Cas said and he sounded closer, right in Dean’s ear.

Dean sighed. “He’s doing this to hurt Sam. Can you keep an eye on him?”

There was silence and Dean peeked out the window. “I can see you.” Cas said.

“Cas.” Dean said.

He hesitated. “I will do what I can. But those kids and you are my top priority.”  

“Thank you.”

“I will speak to you soon.”

Cas hung up the phone and went over to the police officers that were gathered around a nearby squad car. “I am going to need the layout for that school. I need to know how many students were in attendance, where they were at. I need schedules. I need exits.” The men and women gathered around him, one woman near the front writing down what he was saying. “Now, people.” He growled and they all ran off in different directions.  Henrickson joined him as he walked over to the mobile command center. People were gathered around Ellen, waiting on her orders.

Ellen looked up and met Castiel’s eyes. There was nothing left to say.

“We have less than three minutes, Novak.” She said.

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’m handing this operation over to you.” She said.

Castiel hesitated, but when Ellen handed over her credentials and gun he nodded. There was no way she would could separate her personal life from her professional decision making in this case. Castiel was having the same difficulties.

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

~~~

 

Brady entered five minutes later, just as the watch on Dean’s wrist began to beep. “Made up your mind?” He asked.

“No-”

Brady sighed and shook his head before tapping on the door. The same gorilla-esque man came in, an arm around Jess’ waist and the other in her hair. She was tall, she had to be to be with Sam and often wore heels but this guy was big enough to pick her up so that her and the heels she was wearing today cleared the ground. The man threw her down on the ground and she landed on her hands and knees. She turned to face them and stood up, brushing herself off in the process. Jess raised her chin and looked down her nose at Brady. A sneer crossed her lips and Dean swore she had never been more beautiful.

Jess looked at Dean and nodded.

“Tell him-” She paused and looked at Dean thoughtfully. “He knows.”

Brady raised his gun and shot her in the stomach.

She crumpled and Dean heard himself yell, heard the kids scream and was diving for Jess before he had any thought that Brady might kill him too.

Dean was pulling off his shirt before he had any other thought-

_Keep pressure on the wound._

_Stop the bleeding._

_Keep the injured awake._

_Pack the wound tightly._

“The thing is, Dean.” Brady said from his ear as Dean bore down on Jessica and the blood pouring from her, she screamed and tried to push him away but all he could hear was the snake whispering next to him. “You never would have chosen. I knew you wouldn’t. You would have provoked me into killing you. That’s how these things work. So I took your choice from you and I made my own.”

He stood, gestured for the man to leave and followed behind. Dean heard the door click and suddenly, they were all alone. Jess was fast losing the golden color in her cheeks and she was sweating.

“Fuck.” She said.

“Yeah.” Dean agreed. He put a hand to her throat and felt the thready pulse there. She had minutes, maybe. He looked into his office and wondered if the scissors that had fallen behind his desk were still there. He shook the thought from his head.

“Everyone, I need your shirts and backpacks. Empty out your backpacks. Jo, get Novak on the phone. Hoodies, jackets, put them in a pile here. Belts too. Gabe, I need you to come and hold on to this for me.”

Everyone began to strip out of their clothes, the girls hesitating only a minute before they took them off. Dean gathered all of their clothing together and began to knot it all into one large blanket. He sat near Jess’s head and spoke to her.

“Hey, gotta stay with me, ok?” Dean said as her eyes began to close. He gathered the backpacks closer to him and began to knot them together, creating a cot of sorts. He used the shirts to tie them together. “I’m tired, Dean. It’s been kind of a tough day.” Jess complained, her eyes fluttering closed.

“I’ve had worse.” Dean remarked.

“You were in Special Forces. I hope you’ve had worse.” But she opened her eyes.

“Ok, but you owe me a niece or nephew.” Dean reminded her.

Her eyes drifted down and she laughed. “Even if I survive I doubt that’s going to happen.”

“Hey, it’ll happen. You and Sam will get married on the beach, Gabe will make the cake, Jo will be there, so will Charlie and you and Sam will make beautiful, tall children.”

“No, Dean. I don’t think so.” Jess said softly. He gestured at Isla to take over for him and she began to knot everything together. It would have to work. Ty and Brian were working on knotting belts and other straps together. They seemed to understand what he was doing. They were working quickly.

Dean knelt and put his face right into Jess’s. Her eyes closed so he took her jaw in his hand and gently shook her face until she opened her eyes once more. “You are not one of my soldiers but I will tell you what I told them. If you give up, if you leave us here, if you leave Sam here, I will follow you to wherever you end up at and I will kick your ass. Do you hear me?” He whispered.

“Dean-” She whined.

“Don’t whine at me.” He snapped back at her. Jess had never been good with Dean being mad at her. “I’ve been shot. It sucks. You’ll live. You don’t have a choice.” Dean said angrily. “You die, that schmarmy bastard out there wins. Don’t let him win.”

Dean knelt down and began to slid her skirt from her hips. “I don’t have anything down there you’d be interested in, Dean.”

“You just outed me to my students, Jess.” Dean remarked. He clenched his teeth in sympathy when Jess cried out again and scratched at Gabriel’s arms. Gabe remained stoic but he could tell that what little control he had was slipping; his lips were pressed together in a thin line and there was sweat dripping down his forehead.  

“What are you going to do? Shoot me?” She challenged. She bared her teeth in a grimace as Dean began to work the skirt downwards. There was blood on her teeth.

“Mr. Winchester?” Isla asked, showing him the straps and blanket they had made. They were all shirtless and Dean thanked god for the warm California weather.

“That will work.” He said grimly.

“Son.” Bobby said, shoving the phone in Dean’s face.

“Cas?” Dean asked, trying to move Jess as little as possible while he slid the skirt that he had made into a tourniquet underneath her.

“What happened?”

“He shot Jess Moore. We made a makeshift harness. We are going to lower her out and you have to come get her. She doesn’t have a lot of time.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll get SWAT. Now?” Cas asked.

“Now, Cas.” Dean replied.

Cas hung up without another word and turned Henrickson. “A teacher has been shot. They have made a harness and need to get her out of there now. They are going to lower her from that window,” Cas pointed to the window he had seen Dean peek out of earlier. “To the ground. I’ll get SWAT. You get the ambulance.”

Henrickson nodded and jogged over to the emergency personnel. Cas briefed SWAT and they strapped weapons and bullet proof jackets on, along with helmets and a collapsible stretcher. There were nine of them going, six to carry the young woman and three to cover. As soon as they saw the window slide open, they took off at a steady pace. They covered all sides but, to everyone’s surprise, no shots rang out. The crowd that had gathered round fell silent as they watched as Jess was slid out onto the window sill and slowly lowered down. Dean had half his body out the window, clinging to the harness and the makeshift belt before the team was able to reach Jess. She was already unconscious when they got her onto the stretcher and started hauling ass towards ambulance that was waiting for them. Jess was in the ambulance and tearing down the street when the front doors of the school flew open and students and some teachers started streaming out.

It was a mad rush, one that the police and emergency personnel were not expecting. People rushed the barricades, hoping to find their loved ones and children rushed for those same barricades, eager to get as far away from the school as possible.

Other than Dean, Charlie and Jess, there were no injuries reported.

Cas was on the phone with Dean in moments. “Did he let them out?” He demanded.

Dean could only watch the students with a small piece of hope blooming in his chest. “I don’t know.” He said honestly. “Our wing is locked. Charlie, Jo, Gabe, Benny. All of our classes are still here.”

“How are you doing in there?” Castiel asked, eyes locked on that window that Jess had managed to escape from.

“Tired. Kids are getting hungry. I might have to break out my emergency stash of peanut butter cookies and sour cream and onion chips, man.” Dean confessed.

“Well if anything constitutes an emergency-”

“I was thinking something along the lines of a zombie apocalypse, man.”

“You are morbid.” Cas couldn’t help but admire his ability to keep a sense of humor about him, even in a time like this.  

“It’s been said.” Dean agreed. “Any word on Michael?”

“He’ll be here within the hour. He has a small team with him.”

“Did he say who?”

“Uh,” Cas flipped through the small notebook where he had made notations. “Luce, Anna, Gadreel, Balthazar, and Inias.”

“Not bad. Special Forces unit for fifty kids. You got some connections, Castiel.” Dean observed.

“We didn’t get anywhere until Henrickson explained that it was you being held hostage.” Cas confessed.

“Whatever gets him here.”

“Keep the phone charged, Dean.”

“Will do.”

They hung up.

“What do we do now?” Henrickson asked.

Castiel sighed. “We need to talk to Brady. But not on that phone Dean has. Can we get a line in?”

Henrickson regarded the school. “Probably. We can jam all cell phones going in and then trace the numbers, use them to get to Brady.”

“Let’s try it.”

Henrickson turned to the central command. “Ash! We got a job for you.”

After quickly explaining the situation, Ash’s eyes widened and Cas could all but see his synapses firing. “I need four minutes and thirty two seconds.”

Castiel and Henrickson watched the school. “It’s strange he hasn’t demanded anything yet.”

“What could he demand? If this is revenge for what we did to him, all he needs to do is kill everyone inside and he wins.”

Henrickson frowned. “Well, why isn’t he doing that yet?”

 

~~~

 

Dean wasn’t lying about his stash of peanut butter cookies. He passed two out to everyone and they all passed the party sized bag of chips around. Dean was in the habit of keeping at least two cases of bottled water in his room, so there was no problem there.

“You know, down the hall, I have the ingredients to make a four course meal.” Gabe said thoughtfully, frowning at his cookie before taking a large bite.

“‘Tempt not a desperate man.’” Dean replied.

“Man, don’t quote Shakespeare at a time like this.” Jo complained.

“Why are we here?” Kevin asked.

“Now is not the time for existential questions, dude.” Ty told Kevin.

“Isn’t the key to every nefarious villain’s undoing figuring out why he is doing what he is doing?”

“I think Mr. Winchester taking that asshole on one on one would be this guy’s undoing.” Ty said.

Dean nudged Jo’s bare shoulder with his own. “See? I told you military experience would come in handy.”

“Really, Dean? You want to talk about hands right now?” Charlie asked. She winced when she looked down at her hand. It was clearly broken. Dean had bandaged it as well as he could but with what little he had at his fingertips, paper towels, pencils and scotch tape had to do.

“How’s Jess?” Bobby asked.

“Castiel said she was in surgery.” Dean huffed. “This morning I was ready to kick his ass and now he’s the only hope that we have to get out of here.”

“Well, if anyone can do it, it’s my little brother.” Gabe said, leaning against a wall and crossing his ankles.

“That so?” Dean asked, leaning against the makeshift pile of desks.

“He isn’t a genius in terms of me being proud. He has an IQ that quite literally broke their graphs.” Gabe said. He yawned. “So between the two of you and that Special Forces team, I’m not too worried.” He checked his watch. “Do you think I’ll be home in time for America’s Next Top Model?”

Charlie shook her head at him and looked over at the pile of miscellaneous objects that were thrown from backpacks earlier. “Do you think there is any kind of painkiller in there?” She asked. Henley, who was closest to the pile, began to sift through it. She came up with a small bottle of ibuprofen. “Extra strength.” She said as she opened it and gave Charlie five of them. Charlie tossed them back with a gulp of her water bottle. She leaned heavily against Jo, who stroked her arm.

“What’s next, Mr. Winchester?” Steph asked from her spot in the corner of the room.

Dean shrugged. “We wait. A team who specializes in this sort of situation is on its way and hopefully they can get us out before anything else happens.”

“When did Cas say they would be here?” Gabriel asked.

“Within the hour. They must have been stateside.” Dean said.

The clock struck 3:10. The dismissal bell rang. Everyone sighed and looked around.

Brady chose to enter the room just then and blinked at everyone who was sitting in the corner of the room. They were all shirtless and listless, the kids past terrified and now skirting the edge of exhaustion.

“Did you get her out?” Brady asked, gesturing to the drying puddle of blood in the middle of the room.

“We did.” Dean said.

“How is she?” Brady asked.

“How should we know? I just flagged down the cops out there and they sent some others in for her.” Dean snapped, purposely keeping his answer vague.

“You used the clothes off your back.” Brady mused.

“Captain Obvious.” Dean mock saluted Brady. Brady smiled.

“There is another class next door.”   
Dean nodded. Benny Lafitte’s math class. “I will be letting them go but you and your class will remain here with me.”

Dean nodded again. He looked over at his class, some of whom were trembling, and smiled. “It’ll be ok, guys.”

Brady watched them all, the kids with their heads bowed behind the desk, Charlie and Jo shying away behind Bobby and Dean in front of them all, looking out the window. Brady gestured to the gorrilla large man behind him. “There is a stash of sweatshirts in the library. Bring them.”

Dean did not say anything about the gift that Brady was offering them. Instead he looked up and asked, “Jo and Charlie and Gabe’s classes-”

“They left the building with everyone else.” Brady said.

Dean couldn’t help but glance around the kids who, for once, wished they were anywhere else. “Will you let them go?” Dean asked, gesturing to the kids. “Keep the rest of us, but the kids-”

“Your nobility is showing again, Dean.” Brady said. The gorilla man came back in, sweatshirts and a few tshirts in his his hands. He threw them at Bobby who huffed but handed them out. “And no, I don’t think so. I have so few hostages as it is, I need every single one I can keep.”

Dean pursed his lips and nodded. He looked away and did not say anything more. Everyone else took the lead and remained silent but for the shuffling around and putting the sweatshirts on. Jo pressed the largest one they had into Dean’s hands and he smiled at her. Brady watched the interaction silently and then turned to the gorilla man. “Call Henrickson. Order us some food. The kids too.”

The other man grunted and left the room. Brady looked around the room once more and Charlie caught his eye. Dean moved himself between the two of them but Brady said, “Red, get up.” Charlie caught Dean’s eye, panic clear on her face. “Come on, Red.” Brady said, sounding impatient now. Dean stood and Charlie hid behind him.

“Don’t hurt her.” Dean said.

“Dean.” Brady scolded gently and he sounded like John when he was drunk and trying to cajole a very small Sam out from under the bed. “You really are not in a place of bargaining, here.” He took aim at Kevin and Kevin froze, staring at the gun. “Come here, Red.”

Charlie squeezed Dean’s hand hard enough to hurt before stepping around him. “No, Charlie.” He said. But there was nothing left for him to do. Charlie went forward or Kevin died. There was no choice. Charlie took a deep breath and lifted her chin and stared at Brady right in the eye.

“Good girl.” Brady murmured and lowered his gun.

“Stick it up your ass.” She said politely.

He grabbed her by the back of the neck roughly. “I can break other things than just your hand, little girl.” He shoved her towards the door. “Get out. Go tell Agent Novak that I will be in contact once we have all eaten.”

Charlie stumbled but regained her footing. She looked back over at Dean who was standing in front of Kevin who had gone a frightening shade of gray. Dean nodded at Charlie who looked like she was on the verge of tears.  "It'll be ok." He promised. Brady grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and shoved her to the door.  "Go, before I change my mind."

He turned back to the group. “We’ll eat soon. Then we can talk about what’s going on out there.” He nodded to the window.

 

~~~

 

Cas checked his watch. “How long till they get here?” He asked.

“Seven minutes is what Angelus told me.” Victor said. He glanced back down the road, the same thing that Cas had been doing for the past twenty minutes. “He sent me a text. I didn’t even give him my cell number, man.”

Cas shook his head. “I wouldn’t underestimate this team. I asked Ellen about them and she said that it was classified. Used the FBI database and I got a call reassuring me that the team was on their way but if I tried to find any other information on them that I would be stripped of my position and face federal jail time.”

Victor blanched. “They were serious?”

“As a heart attack.” Cas said. He caught sight of a black SUV making its way through the crowd and parting the news vans with ease. Ash threw open the door to his mobile command central, his eyes wide.

“They’re here.” He whispered.

“How did you know?” Victor asked.

“All of my shit just shut down. Well, not shut down. And not all of it. But most of it-”

“Slow down, Ash.” Cas said.

“There are three people in the world that can crash me. Me, some kid in Romania that I want to meet and these guys. Anytime they are called in, tv, cell phones, radios, they all go silent.” Ash said.

Sure enough, the news vans and nearby cell phone users were thrown into a flurry, checking settings and holding the devices up to the sky to get a better signal. Ash laughed out loud. Cas checked the phone in his hand, the one Dean was using to call him.

Full strength. He showed Victor and Ash. Ash could only shrug and grin. “These guys are so freaking cool.”

The SUV’s doors opened and a tall man stepped out of the driver’s side. He was dressed casually in jeans and a tshirt, a dark green coat over it. He squinted around at the crowd gathered around and outright glared at the tv coverage. From the passenger side, a red head stepped out, wearing skinny jeans, a loose top and boots. She shot a look at the driver and Cas saw her mouth tighten but she didn’t say anything. A blonde man came out next, dressed in an impeccable blue suit. He straightened the sleeves and spotted Cas, Victor and Ash. He nudged the driver who nodded. Next, a shaggy haired younger man stepped out dressed in loose jeans and a tshirt. He closed a laptop after glancing at it and shoved it in backpack he had slung over his shoulder. All four stepped back as a man, taller than everyone else but for the driver jumped out. He smiled genially at the other four, blue eyes bright and teasing. The man in the suit said something to him, and with his eyes on Victor, Cas and Ash, he laughed and nodded. Finally, he stepped back to let the last man out. He was dark haired and had a generous build. He was dressed in dark slacks and a light blue button up shirt. The sleeves were rolled to his forearms and there were aviators on his nose. He muttered something to the driver and redhead, nodded to the man who had the laptop and finally started to Cas, Victor and Ash.

The redhead and driver disappeared around the back of the SUV and the others headed straight for the command central. The man in the suit took off his jacket while the other blonde man murmured something to him under his breath.

“Agent Novak?” The dark haired man said.

“Yes.” Cas said and stepped forward, offering his hand.

The man shook his hand. “Michael Angelus. Balthazar.” He nodded to the man who was in the suit as he loosened his tie. The man nodded.

“Luce.” The blonde man with blue eyes said with a small smirk. Cas shook his hand.

“Inias. Ash, may I speak with you? We need to get set up as quickly as possible.” The shaggy man said. Ash all but squealed with delight and led him into the trailer. The other two members of the team approached, carrying bags.

“Anna.” Michael said, nodding to the redhead. She nodded at them and tossed a bag to Balthazar who was now undoing his shirt. Michael began to unbutton his own shirt.

“Gadreel.” The driver said, raising his hand.

“Can you tell us what you know?” Michael asked as he slipped his shirt off, revealing a plain white tee underneath.

As the team began to undress and redress in darker clothing, tighter fitting and stretching the strange clothing out easily, Cas told them all that they knew. Everyone remained silent and only when Anna slipped on a pair of glasses did she finally say anything.

“Get all that, Inias?” She waited a moment before nodding and giving Michael a thumbs up.   

“All set.” She said. At her feet were seven different cases and she laid them reverently on the table in front of her. She flipped open the cases and Gadreel came to stand next to her, staring down.

“Hey, let’s talk first.” Michael said, the pull of authority clear in his voice.

Anna closed the cases and snapped them shut and headed over to Michael.

“Winchester in there?” Michael asked, nodding to the building.

“Yes. Second story, fourth window in.” Cas said.

“Any contact?” Michael asked.

Cas held out the phone he had. “I wait for him to call but we’ve managed to talk a few times. He called to get Jess out and he’s called a few other times.”

“How many people are in there?” Balthazar asked as Ellen joined the conversation. Much to Castiel’s surprise, Michael pulled her into a warm hug.

“No more than twenty hostages. We cannot place the number of suspects in there. At least three.” Victor said.

Michael rubbed Ellen’s back and planted an easy kiss on the top of her head. “We’ll get em out for you, mama bear. Don’t you worry.” He turned back to Cas and said, “I’m sure that you are aware that there has to be more than the three suspects in there?”

“Yes.” Cas said, thinking back to Dean’s words. “Before they let almost everyone out, there were too many people in there for just three people to cover.” Cas flipped through a small notebook, “At last count, seventeen of this Brady guy’s associates were missing.”

“Twenty sounds about right.” Michael said, nodding. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by the phone ringing in Castiel’s hand and several police officers rushing to the front of the building. Anna and Gadreel both took off with the policemen and Michael nodded to Cas.

“Answer it.” Michael said.

Cas slid his finger over the answer button. “This is Agent Novak.”

“Novak.” A female voice said. “The children are getting hungry.”

“Who is this?”

“Eve.” She said.

Eve Parsons was wanted on robbery and kidnapping. Somewhere on the middle rung of Brady’s crime ladder, she was not a force to be taken lightly.

“Where is Brady?”

“With Dean.” Eve sounded bored. “He’s handcuffing him to that teeny tiny office in his room. So far, Dean has been politely cooperating, but we know, as well as you do I’m sure, that Dean poses a threat that will not be taken lightly. Now, we need food. Brady would like-”

“No.” Michael said. Cas raised his eyebrows.

Eve scoffed. “You’re not going to let these children starve and we both know it.”

“We will let them starve.” Michael countered and snapped the phone out of Castiel’s hand. “You have food in there. Go find it.” And he hung up.

Cas blinked at Michael. “What the hell did you just do?”

Michael pointed the phone at Castiel’s chest. “Your brother was trained in Beverly Hills and France as a chef. His kitchen is so loaded most restaurants would drool. He can cook for them-”

Castiel snatched the phone out of Michael’s hand. “They want food, you give them food!”

“Unless you have the chance to divide their forces!” Michael snapped at him.

Cas took a deep breath. “If a single child dies up there-”

“It’s on me, I get that.” Michael said. “But once it’s dark and we shut off the power in there, we’ll have the advantage.”

Cas looked at the swiftly descending sun and the small group of parents huddled together whose children were still in the building. He blinked when he saw Victor leading a redhead to a nearby ambulance before turning back to Michael.

“You will be the one held liable.” Cas said flatly before heading over to the ambulance where Charlie waited with Victor

 

~~~

 

“Are the handcuffs necessary?” Dean asked as Brady handcuffed him to the leg of his desk in his office.

“You can break out of the zipties. So yes.” Brady said. He tapped Dean on the nose. “Don’t worry. Once we have dinner done I’ll send someone in with a plate.”

“What do you want?” Dean asked.

“Retribution.” Brady replied.

“It’s not something they can deliver.” Dean said, glancing to the windows.

Brady regarded him for a long moment before speaking. “I’m not some teenage psychopath with a hard on to kill people for a convoluted reason. I am absolutely sane and I know exactly what I’m doing. And you, Dean, are the reason I chose this place and this time. Everyone else, the teachers, the students out there? They are all icing on the cake.”

“You aren’t concealing your identities.” Dean said, nodding.

Brady stood and stared down at him for a second longer. “Someone will be in with food.”

“This can only end badly for you!” Dean called after his retreating back. Brady closed the door and locked it from the outside. Dean tried to stand but could only get to his knees, handcuffed to the desk as he was. He watched while Brady gestured to Gabe and Gabe pulled Isla, Tony and Steph with him. He looked hesitant but not scared. He gave Dean a bare smile and stepped out the door, taking the three students with them. The door closed behind them and Bobby and Jo immediately made for the office. They tried in vain to open it but after awhile, Dean just shook his head.

“Take care of the kids!” He shouted at them.

Jo looked worried and place a hand flat to the small window. Dean smiled at her.

“I’ll be fine!” He said. “Go!”

Eventually they left the window.

Dean sat.

He waited.

 

~~~

 

In the ambulance, Cas listened to Charlie tell her brief story before being whisked away to the hospital to have her hand looked at.

Michael and Cas watched as the ambulance left, lights flashing. They both turned to the school at the same time and watched in silence as the sun finally set, leaving everyone in the soft twilight.

Cas picked up his walkie talkie. “Cut the power.”

They watched as the school went dark and almost immediately lit up again at key points in the hallway.

“Not as stupid as they look.” Gadreel said softly from behind Cas and Michael. “Brought their own lights.”

“We ready?” Michael asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s get to it.”

Michael and Gadreel marched off to find the rest of their team. Cas watched the window without saying goodbye.

“Keep your head down, Dean.” He muttered.

Victor joined Cas’s side and they watched as the team of six split into two groups, each group taking the east and west entrances. Ambulances stood nearby, doors already open and paramedics standing as close as they were allowed. The crowd held its breath and Victor was tense beside Cas. There was another set of footsteps behind them and Sam Winchester was there, watching the scene unfold beside them as well. No one said a word.

And just as suddenly and quietly as it had begun, it was over. All six of the team were retreating back to the mobile command station with nothing to show for their efforts. As they jogged up, Cas stepped forward, Sam and Victor close to his back.

“They welded the doors shut.” Michael said grimly as he peeled off the mask he wore. “And wired all the windows downstairs with bombs. We either knock a wall down or go in the front door or rappel from the fucking roof.” He gripped the mask in his hand and walked away. Cas made to go after him but Anna stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“I wouldn’t.” She said softly.

Cas paused but nodded. He turned to Victor instead. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, that about sums up the night.” Victor agreed.

“What are we going to do?” Sam asked.

“I have no idea.”

 

~~~

 

As a hostage, Dean had not eaten better. There was salad, bread and a mix of freshly steamed vegetables next to one of the largest steaks Dean had seen in a long time. While the power was off in the rest of the school, it did not affect Gabe’s gas stove or oven. Cooking in the dark had not made him happy and Brady had to offer him one of the large lamps that were apparently littering the hallway outside of Dean’s classroom, according to Gabe.

Brady had been good on his word and Gabe was allowed to bring him his dinner. Twenty minutes after eating, the large gorilla man came in, unlocked the cuffs on Dean’s hands and let him go to the bathroom, standing in the urinal next to him while Dean finished using the facilities. They went back to the office, Dean was handcuffed once more and the man left the room and locked the door behind him.

It was going to be a long night.

 

~~~

 

Cas sat on a cruiser with a cup of coffee, Victor to his right and Sam to his left. They had all been fairly quiet since Michael had returned and gathered his team to him and entered the mobile command center. Cas and Victor were free to join but both had felt like they more of an intrusion and hinderance than any real help.

The phone in Castiel’s pocket rang loudly and Cas almost spilled his coffee when he jerked in surprise.

“Novak.” He answered.

“Have you tried your brother’s steak? If it’s going to be my last meal, man I gotta say, no regrets.” Dean sounded tired.

“Dean.” Cas scolded.

“Have you heard from Sam? Jess?” He asked.

Cas looked over at Sam whose eyes were hopeful and wide. “Yeah, he’s right here. You talk to him.”

Cas handed the phone over to Sam who let out a grateful huff.

“Hey, man.” Sam said. His voice wavered just the smallest bit.

“Hey. I hope you aren’t crying in front of those FBI agents. We’ll never hear the end of it.” Dean teased gently.

“I’m not crying, you jerk.” Sam said and rubbed the heel of his hand into his eyes. Victor and Cas looked away politely.

“Course not, bitch. How’s Jess?”

“Fine. Nicked a blood vessel and she needed a transfusion, but she’s fine.” Sam said.

“That’s good, that’s real good. You gotta take of her, you hear me?” Dean asked.

“Yeah of course I will.” Sam said.

“And Ellen. Make sure you watch out for her. She works too hard; she always has. You have to make her slow down once in awhile ok?”

“Dean, why are you talking like this? I hated it when you would call me with shit like this when you were deployed.” Sam said, staring at the lights in the school.

“I just need you to know some things, Sam. And if I don’t make it out-”

“You will.” Sam said, his teeth gritted.

“If I don’t, you’re the glue of this family ok? I know it’s going to hurt, but they are all going to lean on you.”

“Dean-”

“Bobby will want to drink. You can’t let him. Ok? And Jo will lash out and she’s going to be angry and hurting, but you have to stick with her. She’s going to say some really shitty things but just hold on to her. She’s our baby sister. All right? And take care of Jess.”

Sam wasn’t trying to hide the tears anymore. “You’re coming out of there, Dean.”

“Yeah man. Of course I am.” Dean agreed heartily.

“And you’re going to be my best man.”

“I would kick anyone else’s ass that tried to take my place.” Dean nodded.

“When I have kids, they’re going to go over to your place on the weekends.” Sam vowed, his breath hitching and his chest aching.

“And I’m going to spoil the hell out of those kids. Send em home all sugared up to you and Jess.” Dean grinned.

“You gotta come out of there, man.” Sam begged.

Dean sighed and was silent for a long moment. “I’ll be the last one out, Sammy. But I’ll be out.”

“Dean-”

“Sam.” Dean said softly. “I’ll be out, ok?”

“Ok.” Sam whispered.

“Let me talk to Cas.”

Sam handed the phone over to Cas and stood up. He walked away and Victor watched with worried eyes before going after him.

“Did you just tell your brother goodbye?” Cas asked.

“I always did before. Why wouldn’t I now?” Dean said. He flexed his hand in the cuff. It was beginning to ache.

“Because there is no way of telling that you’ll be dying here.” Cas pointed out.

“Same rules applied as before, Novak. No way of telling that I’ll be leaving here.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Brady wants retribution. He told me that I was the only way he was going to get that.”

“That does not sound promising.” Castiel said thoughtfully.

“I’m inclined to agree.”

“Can you peek out the window?” Cas asked suddenly.

“Why, you miss me Novak?”

“No.”

Dean sighed and Cas heard something scrape in the background. “No, I can’t. I’m handcuffed to my desk and locked in my office.”

“Oh.” Cas said softly. And then suddenly, “I’m sorry about this morning, Dean.”

“Seems like it was years ago, Cas. We're such good friends now, I practically forgot about it.” Dean huffed and Cas heard him shuffle in the background.

“I was an idiot and took out my misdirected anger on you and the young lady at the counter.”

“Krissy.” Dean said. “Her name is Krissy. And when you go back to her shop, if anything happens to me-”

“Dean-”

“I need you to tell her that I have never had a student in my entire career that made me more proud than her.” Dean cleared his throat. “Got that?”

“I got it.” Cas said, pulling out his notepad and scribbling a note to himself.

“Promise me.” Dean insisted.

“I promise.” Cas said. “How is Gabriel?”

“Last time I saw him, he was gleefully cooking. He’s being held at gunpoint to cook and he was fucking _thrilled_ about it.”

“Gabriel is the happiest in the kitchen. He can be a broody bastard sometimes but if you put him in the kitchen, he becomes much like Richard Simmons.”

Dean chuckled over the line.

“Are you ok?” Cas asked.

“Well. How do you mean? I’m handcuffed to my desk and being held prisoner by some crazy people here.” Dean said, a bitter edge at his voice. “I go overseas for eight years, come out of there with most of my sanity intact and now it looks like I’m going to die being a goddamn English teacher.”

“You don’t know that.” Cas insisted.

Dean laughed. “The odds aren’t exactly in my favor here.”

“You’ve gotten most of the school out of there. I would say that the odds are more in your favor than you would like to admit.” Cas opened the door to the cruiser and slid in.

“Well, if there was a place for me to die, I guess this is an ok place for it to happen.” Dean replied. “I was happier here more than almost anywhere else.”

“Almost?” Cas asked.

Dean snorted. “Yeah, well, after I got out of the military, I decided I was going to take a cross country trip. See the sights, ya know? The Grand Canyon, The Rockies, Mount Rushmore. Do Disneyland, Branson, Missouri. Shit I didn’t get to do as a kid. It was right after Sam graduated from law school and the summer right before I went back to school. Sam already had a job so it was just going to be me and the open road. Wanted Sam to go, but I understood. We all have our shit that we have to take care of you know?”

“I do know.” Cas said, nodding.

“But at the very last second, he shows up at my door, a duffel bag and his wallet and said, ‘Fuck it. How many other times are we going to get to do this. Let’s go.’ So we went. That. That trip, in the car with my brother. That was the happiest I ever was.”

Cas smiled. “Gabe and I would have killed each other.”

Dean chuckled. “It took some getting used to, that’s for sure.”  

Dean was silent and Cas had to check the phone to make sure the connection hadn’t been lost.

“Where did you grow up?” Dean asked finally.

“Chicago.” Cas replied, remembering the large apartment he grew up in, wide expanses below him, cold sunlight shining through the windows. His brothers and his sister in the kitchen, everyone gathered around the kitchen table.

“It’s cold there.”

“It can be.” Cas acknowledged.

“Sam and I grew up in Kansas. On a damn farm. Then Sioux Falls. I’m sure you know the story.”

Cas did know the story. A pretty typical family living on farmland until there is a fire one night in the nursery. Mom doesn’t make it out alive. No definitive cause of the fire was ever found. After that, John Winchester began to slowly unravel. He lost his job six months later and after that, began to sell off the farm piece by piece. The only thing that he kept was the house and was barely able to keep the boys fed and even that was a touch and go project. When Dean was old enough, he began to work odd jobs around the encroaching neighborhood and when he got to high school, caught the eye of Principal Singer. Mr. Singer kept an eye on him, taking him under his wing and eventually winning Dean’s trust and his darkest secret; his father was an alcoholic whose sobriety lasted hours and whose drunken rages lasted days. Through much persuasion, John eventually gave up custody of his two boys and Bobby and his wife Ellen took over.

The rest, as they often say, is history.

“I do, yes.” Cas said.

“We had this Christmas, it must have been the first one, where Jo threw open the bedroom door at like five in the morning.” Dean shifted and Cas heard papers shuffle in the back. “Sam and I had a big room in the back that they had been using as our bedroom. It was huge. We both had full sized beds in there with two dressers, a closet and a desk. Anyway, she throws open the door and is telling us to get up, it’s Christmas, we have to get downstairs _right now_. See the thing was, was that at that point, I remembered one good Christmas when mom was alive. One. Sammy only shitty Christmas holidays so we never made a big deal about it. Once Sam got me a necklace and I got him a few things over the years, but that was it. So we weren’t expecting anything this time either. But Jo dragged us out of our beds and, fuck man. Bobby and Ellen must have been up all night wrapping presents. The fucking tree was filled with shit.” There was another shuffle and Cas remained quiet. “We got everything we wanted. I mean yeah, we already had the stuff we needed. Sam had new clothes because he kept outgrowing his old ones. But he got this collection of books he had been drooling over. I got all these DVDs I had shown Jo weeks earlier.” There was another shuffle and a quiet thump. “They didn’t have to, you know. I mean it was enough that they kept us fed with a roof over our head without having to worry if we would have to clean up after our drunk father. Bobby even made me quit my after school job so that I could just concentrate on my grades.  But they did anyway. And that sort of thing, it sticks with you.”

“So that’s why you became a teacher.” Cas said.

“Yeah. I wanted to be the kind of man Bobby was, but I didn’t want the politics of administration.”

“And the army was the only way to pay for your college.”

“Nah, the army was to pay for Sam’s college. He’s my brother, it’s been my job to take care of him since mom died and dad checked out.” He paused. “I was going to get out after four years, come back and do college. But then I was offered a position with another unit and I decided to do that. Put some money away. Sam went to college, I came home, went to college and that’s that.”          

“I imagine there to be more details than that.” Cas said.

“Yeah. There were ups and downs. But that is neither here nor there. Tell me about you, Cas.”

Cas cleared his throat and spread his hand over the wheel. “Me?” He smiled. “I’m pretty boring, by comparison.”

“What were your parents like?” Dean prodded.

“Mom was an art history major. She loved to take us to the museums and tell us all about the masters from forever ago. We were sent to private schools. My oldest brother, Michael, was a doctor. My next brother, Luke, was also an attorney. Gabe, as you know, was a chef. I became an FBI agent and my sister, Hael, runs a small nursery school.”

“Your dad wasn’t around?”

“He was,” Cas hedged, “Sometimes. He was a writer and would get lost in his own work a lot. So we were with mom more than him.”

“Why the FBI?”

“I wanted to make a difference. Being a cop didn’t appeal to me. But I had the aptitude for this. So here I am.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re here.” Dean said.

Cas smiled down at his hands. “You know, now that you are handcuffed to a desk, you aren’t that bad of a guy, Dean.”

“Now that you are trying to get me out of this school alive, you aren’t that bad either, Cas.” Dean smiled. “Hey Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?”

“Did you really tell Gabe that you thought I was hot?”

There was a slight pause. “You do have a certain physical appeal, yes.”

“You totally think I’m hot.”

 

~~~

 

When Dean hung up the phone, he felt a little better. Not a whole lot; he was, after all, still handcuffed to his desk and locked in his office. But now that he knew what kind of man Castiel Novak was, he felt like he could rest a little easier. He stood to try to see out the small window of his office door but it was too high and the handcuff only allowed him to stand up about halfway. He sat down again and grabbed for his coat off the back of his chair and stuffed it behind his head. He heard the others outside trying to figure out a way to sleep.

Dean dozed fitfully for a couple of hours in the severely cramped space he had in his office. At around two in the morning he woke up, wide awake but holding completely still. Something had woken him up but he couldn’t place it right away.

There. There it was; the softest shuffle above his head and he knew right away that his team had made it into the building. There was another soft shuffle and he watched, with some amazement, as Bobby and Jo helped students up onto his desk in the classroom and into the ceiling. There were air ducts up there and they must have been able to map out a way into the classroom and back out again. Dean watched as all the students were led up and away followed swiftly by Jo, Bobby and then Gabe being boosted by Castiel. Michael suddenly appeared at his door and he watched as the door handle jiggled. Michael made short work of the office door and opened it in time for both men to watch as the classroom door burst open. Dean watched, with a certain amount of horror, as the gorilla man ran for Cas and barreled into him, slamming him painfully into Dean’s desk. The man raised his hand but was stopped by Michael shooting him cleanly and easily three quick times. In the confusion, Brady entered the room and shot Michael, just as easily, in the chest.

Michael fell back against the door and Dean watched as he slid down the door. Brady trained his gun on Castiel and pushed Michael’s body aside unceremoniously and threw the keys at Dean’s face.

“Uncuff yourself.” He said flatly, his gun still on Cas. Dean fumbled for a second and then opened the cuff and stood, rubbing his wrist.

“Don’t try anything, Winchester.” He said flatly. Dean held his hands up. There were shots outside, followed by more shouting. Brady pulled Dean in front of him and using Dean as a shield, Brady gestured at Cas to leave the room. He did, nearly backing over a dead body.

“Get back!” Cas shouted to the rest of the team. Dean saw Gadreel and Anna and Luce there. Balthazar melted out of the shadows to stand by his team and Dean was rather impressed at the amount of bodies that littered the ground. Luce was holding Gadreel up, Anna pressing down on his shoulder. Gadreel pushed her away and stumbled back, letting his team form a tight wall in front of him. Balthazar trained his gun on Dean and Brady.

“Novak.” He snapped.

With regret clear in his eyes, Castiel stepped over the bodies and stood next to Anna. He raised his gun in their direction. Brady pulled hard on Dean and Dean stumbled once more. This felt like a dream. It had to be. He was still asleep in his office. Or better yet, he was at home and this entire thing, this entire day was one very long, very fucked up nightmare and he would wake up and stumble to his bathroom and get some water-

“Dean.” Cas said. “Focus, man.”

Dean’s eyes snapped to them and yes, it was real. Hoping for anything different would not help him. Dean stood a little straighter and even if there was a gun pressed to the underside of his jaw, forcing his head up at an uncomfortable angle, he would help out in any way he could.

“You aren’t leaving alive.” Anna said flatly.

“Aren’t you supposed to negotiate?” Brady asked, pulling Dean even further down the dark hall.

“You don’t have anything that we want.” Luce said. Dean was almost offended for a minute. Cas glanced over at the team but was instantly distracted when Michael staggered through the door.

“Eyes front, Novak.” He said, a rasp in his voice. Then he raised his gun, his team followed suit and Dean turned his face front and locked eyes with Cas.

“Winchester,” Balthazar said and Brady jerked Dean in front of him, just a little bit. Dean met Balathazar’s eyes. “It has been an honor.”

Two shots rang out. One jerked Brady back and threw Dean back as well. The other knocked the gun out of Balthazar’s hands. Anna swiftly had Castiel against the wall and his gun was in her hand. Brady fell against the lockers, one of his hands pressing against the side of his ribcage. Michael lowered his gun and slid down the wall. Gadreel was sitting down as well and Balthazar slung his gun over his shoulder. Luce lowered his weapon and walked over to Michael. Dean stood completely still, taking stock.

He had not been shot.

He took a deep breath and then he turned to Cas, a bright smile on his face.

“See, what did I tell you-”

“No!” Cas screamed, trying to jerk out of Anna’s grip but it was too late.

A single gunshot rang out and Dean felt like someone had slammed a sledgehammer into his chest. He fell next to Brady and Cas was there, sliding him down off the wall and away from Brady. Dean’s chest was on fire and he couldn’t breathe. His head rolled to the right and Brady grinned at him, his teeth stained red.

“Retribution.”

Dean closed his eyes.  

 

~~~

 

“No, no. No.” Cas muttered, pushing down on Dean’s chest where the blood kept bubbling up. Dean’s breathing was fast and labored and there was blood leaking out the side of his mouth. Michael crawled up next to him and placed his hands over Castiel’s holding him fast. Anna was already calling in an ambulance when Castiel leaned close.

“Don’t do this to Sam. Don’t.” He whispered. Dean’s eyes locked on his. “That’s it. Gotta stay here for Sam. And Jo.” Dean grasped his hand and gasped and Cas shook his head. “Sam’s kids. Remember? Remember what you said? You said that you were going to take them on weekends.” Dean’s eyes closed and Cas grasped his chin. “No way, Winchester. No. You got Krissy to help. Who’s going to be here to help the next round of kids? Huh?”

The paramedics arrived and Balthazar pulled Cas away. The last he saw of Dean was as they loaded him onto a stretcher and carted him away.

 

 

 

     

           


	2. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Two weeks later, Dean was wheeled out to his car. Sam sat in the back seat with Jess. He took a deep breath of the fresh, clean air and grasped Castiel’s offered hand from the wheelchair. Cas smiled at the young girl who had wheeled Dean out and opened the car door for him.

“Gee Cas, we goin on a date?” Dean asked.

Cas rolled his eyes. “If I were to take you out on a date, Winchester, you need to be able to move your legs a little bit more to handle me.”

Dean groaned as he got into the car and when Cas slid into the driver’s seat, he managed to wink at him. “Is that a promise Novak?”

“Bet your ass, Winchester.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

“Oh god, you guys, Jess and I are _right here_.”  

 

 


End file.
